Beauty contest winners receive praise, skepticism

While skepticism about beauty pageants lingers in the country following a bribery scandal at a recent Miss International Chongqing contest, Shanghai residents are reacting to the emergence of three women as winners in the Miss Universe Shanghai 2012 beauty pageant on Tuesday.

Just as happened to the Chongqing contestants, the three from Shanghai were received with both praise and boos, if not more boos, hours after their photos were spread on Sina Weibo, a popular social networking site in China.

"It's not all about looking good," Yue-Sai Kan, the national director of Miss Universe China, said before the final results came out.

"There are also attributes such as potential and charisma that should be taken into consideration," Kan said.

The Shanghai contest was divided into five sections, including a bikini show, a talent show and a question-and-answer session in which the contestants were expected to provide answers quickly.

Xu Jidan, the champion of Miss Universe Shanghai 2012, is a college student from Shanghai Donghua University. The 21-year-old, a native of Jilin province, was also the second runner-up in Miss World China 2010.

Standing 1.8 meters tall, Xu impressed the judges with her performance of a flamenco dance and her strutting about on the contest stage's catwalk, the latter being aided by her experience working as a model.

None of the winners this year comes from Shanghai.

The three will compete against another 27 finalists from 14 cities across the country for the Miss Universe China crown. Before that competition occurs on Sept 1 in Shanghai, the 30 contestants will have to undergo a month's worth of training in 12 subjects, including performing on a catwalk, maintaining good posture and applying makeup.

"This training will provide life-long benefits to all of the girls," Kim said. "It will be a lesson in confidence that most Chinese women never get to have."